The goals of this project are 1) to understand the translation of observed health status to self-reported health status and if this translation differs by socio-economic groups; and 2) to determine how self-reported health status information can estimate the value of health. The results will be reported for research purposes and will directly contribute in assessing the burden of non-fatal health outcomes particularly for the elderly within the Global Burden of Disease 2000, which will be disseminated widely by the World Health Organization. These results would improve the comparability and interpretation of self-reported health status measures across and within populations. The analysis will: 1) examine how individuals translate observed performance in a domain of health into self-reported capacity in that domain. Nationally-representative sample survey data from the United States, Indonesia and Canada will be used, with regional and small cross- national sample surveys from some or all of the United States, China, Italy, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Thailand. 2) how medical diagnosis for particular conditions translated into self reported health in associated domains. Nationally-representative sample survey data linked to medical records from the United States and Denmark have been identified. 3) examine how self-reported general health relates to valuation of health. Nationally-representative survey data from Denmark that includes both self-reported general health status and valuation of health will be used. 4) examine how individuals weight self-reported performance in different domains of health into self-reported general health. Nationally- representative data from the United States, Canada, Denmark and Japan will be employed, along with regional and smaller cross-national sample surveys from countries selected from North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Multivariate methods will be used that adjust for sources of difference, including differing responses to survey questions due to differing standards of excellence in defining health, greater salience of disability, denial, or different understanding of general health. Estimates will be done separately for different socio-economic groups based on income, education, race and age and compared across different cultural and geographic settings.